A radical decision by the government to shut down public broadcasting overnight has destabilised the country more than any of the previous austerity measures could have. On 12 June, Conservative prime minister Samaras shut down the Hellenic Broadcasting Corp, ERT, insisting that all 2,600 employees must be fired in order to be able to build a sustainable public broadcasting corporation after the summer. In response to the sudden closure, massive protests have broken out and trade unions called a general strike. ERT staff has refused to close down and continued bringing the news online. Amidst large scale international condemnation of the closure, the two left wing coalition partners in Samaras’ government denied having been consulted on the closure and brought motions in Parliament to undo the actions.
English: http://www.independent.ie/world-news/general-strike-in-greece-in-tv-row ...
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/agencia-efe/130612/staff-greek-public-tv-defy ...
For more information, please contact the editor Jan Cremers, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) cbn-aias@uva.nl or the communications officer at the ETUI, Mariya Nikolova mnikolova@etui.org. For previous issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit http://www.etui.org/E-Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net.